I am a native New Mexican and a retired researcher and epidemiologist, and I bring a thoughtful, investigative lens to my work. My interests include architectural documentation, photography, collaboration with local modernist organizations, teaching ESL, traveling, and exploring the history of my New Mexican Spanish.

I was raised in a modest adobe home in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, an experience that continues to shape how I understand the relationship between landscape, culture, and the built environment. That sense of place remains central to everything I do.

High Desert Modernism is a natural extension of this perspective, a space where architecture, photography, and regional history come together, grounded in curiosity, preservation, and a deep appreciation for the high desert.

Thank you for being here!

-James

ABOUT HDM

High Desert Modernism (HDM) grew out of my work restoring the Dekker House, a 1965 Art Dekker–designed home in Albuquerque that I have stewarded since 2017. The home was featured in the ABQ MidMod Home Tour in 2019 and again in 2026, and through that experience, a personal project expanded into a deeper commitment to documenting and sharing New Mexico’s often overlooked modernist architecture.